Media outlets access enhanced multi-platform content at no charge, with alerts when we have new content on issues or from regions you may select. Once we receive the filled out form below, you'll receive a message with the passcode/s. Welcome!

*These fields are required

*Media Outlet name

*Media Outlet City/State

Contact name

Contact phone

*Email address or fax #

*Media Outlet type

Additional (beyond the state you are located in) content that you would like to receive

Newscasts

PNS Daily Newscast - February 16, 2018

Florida lawmakers put a concealed weapons bill on hold; also on today's nationwide rundown, concern about Washington State sharing immigrant activist information with ICE agents; and romance scams on the rise.

CDC’s ‘Get Smart Week’ Aims to Outsmart Bacteria

November 15, 2010

CHEYENNE, Wyo. - Outsmarting the enemy will take a team effort. That's the message of the "Get Smart About Antibiotics" campaign from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). It aims to educate the public, doctors and agricultural producers that antibiotics need to be used more judiciously, in order to reduce the spread of antibiotic-resistant infections in humans.

The medical director for the CDC's "Get Smart" project, Lauri Hicks, says there is a new sense of urgency, because resistant bacteria are spreading rapidly. They're connected to the overuse and misuse of antibiotics, and the rate of new antibiotic discoveries has slowed almost to a halt.

"Now, common infections may be difficult to treat. When you really need an antibiotic, it may not work."

A type of antibiotic-resistant pneumonia only found in one state in 2001, Klebsiella pneumoniae carbapenemase, has now spread to 35 states, including Wyoming.

Veterinarian Gail Hansen, a senior officer with the Pew Campaign on Human Health and Industrial Farming, says getting farmers and ranchers on board with phasing out the routine use of antibiotics for food animal production is just as urgent. She adds that 70 percent of the antibiotics sold in the U.S. are used on industrial farms to help animals grow faster and stay healthy in crowded conditions.

"We've seen bacteria that have become resistant to antibiotics - bacteria that are found predominantly in animals - that then get into our food supply and make people sick. That's happening."

Those who support using antibiotics in food animal production claim there's no proof that antibiotic-resistant bacteria come from animals. Hansen explains that drug-resistance is a shared risk, just as effective antibiotics are a shared resource. She wants to see farmers and ranchers get assistance in changing production methods, so antibiotics are only used for medical reasons.

"We need to be looking forward to how we come up with answers that more closely match what's being done on the farms today. What works on the farms? What doesn't work on the farms?"